AUGUSTA, GA. For a brief moment during the 2nd round of the 2016 Masters it appeared what Jordan Spieth had done when winning in 2015 would happen again with this year’s Masters. The Texan started strongly -- birdieing the 1st and 3rd holes to reach -8 for the event and it appeared his fellow competitors would be looking far behind in his rear view mirror. Then Spieth opened the door with a double-bogey at the 5th. The 22-year-old defending champion then bogied the 9th and 10th holes and what had appeared to be a possible run away has now turned into a fascinating final two rounds this weekend with any number of players fully capable in taking home the green jacket.
The overall winner of Friday’s play was Augusta National Golf Club. As demanding as the course played in Thursday first round -- the stroke average for Friday’s play was a full shot higher -- just over 75. The steady northwest winds that remained constant throughout the day’s play proved too much for the field with vexing wind patterns that made club selection difficult and caused a number of players to be thoroughly challenged even over the most routine of putts. There were no rounds in the 60’s -- only three broke par -- and players were simply trying to avoid losing all connection to the top of the leaderboard.
Saturday’s 3rd round will now feature in the final group -- the world number two and three ranked players -- Spieth and Rory McIlroy. The two have combined to win four of the last six major championships. But they are far from the only players with excellent chances. No less than 13 players are within four shots of the lead and are fully capable in making themselves viable with 36 holes to go.
